‘We thank you for the check....’

Following are just a few of the many responses from food banks to the Church of the Brethren matching grants for domestic hunger relief. The program helped congregations around the country raise money over the winter for local food needs, matched by grants from the Church of the Brethren’s Global Food Crisis Fund and Emergency Disaster Fund. The responses have been compiled by Howard Royer, manager of the Global Food Crisis Fund:

"Our kitchen serves three meals a day, every day of the year, to the homeless under our roof. On their behalf, God bless!" -- Chris Smith, Lebanon (Pa.) Rescue Mission, and minister at Midway Church of the Brethren

"I am thanking you on behalf of our church, the Big Sky Church (American Baptist/Church of the Brethren) of Froid, Mont., of which I am a member, and our Culbertson Food Bank for which I serve as coordinator under the auspices of the Ministerial Association. As in many areas, we are seeing more and more families turning to local food banks for assistance. So we really appreciate the financial help we received from you. May God richly bless each one of you as you serve in this ministry." -- Eva May Knudson, Culbertson Food Bank, Froid, Mon.

"We thank you for the check for $500 for our pantry. The money will help us out a great deal to buy groceries for our increasing number of clients. We were happy to see that the Polo Church of the Brethren was able to raise such a large amount also. Thank you for your kindness and generosity!" -- Avis Ehmen and Anne Vock, Polo (Ill.) Lifeline Food Pantry

"Without the loving kindness and support of people like the Mountville Church of the Brethren, our ministry plainly speaking would go ‘belly up.’ These disciples of Christ are awesome in our eyes." -- Columbia Food Bank, Mountville, Pa.

"Thank you for your donation of $500 given to our Second Harvest Food Bank campaign, ‘A Region Responds to Ending Hunger,’ matching the $500 gift of the Anderson Church of the Brethren. Your gift qualifies for the Kresge Challenge and will generate $250 more when our $4 million goal is met." -- Lois Rockhill, executive director, Second Harvest Food Bank of East Central Indiana, Muncie, Ind.

Source: 5/06/2009 Newsline